Meet Dante.

The newest addition to our little family. :)
(Photos taken by my dad.)

If you read my previous post about our search for a new brother for Jacopo, you know we've been looking through the IGCA. Well, we found this poor little guy at the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, after hearing from Chris' family (his sister volunteers there) that they had gotten in a male Italian Greyhound. They found him wandering the streets of Seal Beach with no collar, just skin and bones! So on Saturday we went over there in between various errands in preparation for Easter, and just completely fell in love with him. He's extremely relaxed and a total love monkey, and he must have cost someone a pretty penny, because he's even more purebred/breed standard than Jacopo! We weren't planning on bringing him home that day, but the shelter said that they had already had one other application for him, and recommended that we act now before someone else does!

So we did. And he's the best dog ever (excluding Jacopo, of course!). He jumped right in the car with us, and handled being at my parents house with other dogs and a bunch of other people without a problem. I think he and Jacopo have settled their pecking order, and they slept together in our bed last night without a problem. They're a really great match - once Dante fills out, he should be roughly the same weight as Jacopo, although a little shorter. And he was just fine going in and out through the new doggie door we installed last week - hopefully he'll make Jacopo better at using it! ;)

More photos to come, once I "develop" mine tonight (I've started shooting in RAW format, so can't share immediately!). And an Easter post for sure! We had so much fun this weekend!

Did I mention I cut my hair?

Um, yeah, I suddenly realized I got this life-changing haircut this weekend, and never took a photo! So here you go.
(Yes, that would be me in my car, on my lunch break. I so rock.) (Oh, and the frame is by Katie Pertiet over at Designer Digitals.)

I clearly cannot style it anywhere near as well as my friend Angie did when she cut it, but I'm working on it. :) It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things, and after admiring how well she cuts Chris' hair since the day I met him, I decided it was time to try her skills for myself. And she did not disappoint! I chopped off about 7 inches, and I am soooo happy with it. She totally listened to what I was thinking, made some great suggestions, and even kept me from going too crazy with the chopping, reminding me that we can always cut more later! If you're in the area, she works out of Underground Salon in Long Beach, which a super cute salon that also exhibits/sells original art pieces.

P.S. One of my digital scrapbook pages is featured on the Sweet Shoppe Designs blog today! Take a peek here to find out which one. Go me!

~T

Puppy and Photo Madness, With a Touch of Materalism

So our puppy guest Fred went home safely on Monday night, although there were a few times he came close to not being able to do so (if you catch my drift). Poor guy is a very smart dog, but his owner hasn't really made the time to train him yet! It must be like when parents watch other people's kids - makes you appreciate how good yours are! ;)

New Puppy?

Well...getting there. Chris and I decided it's time Jacopo had a brother, for a number of reasons.

1. We love dogs.
2. Italian Greyhounds typically do much better with at least one other dog around, just because they're such a social/pack breed.
3. We've been talking to other IG owners at the dog park, who ALL recommend getting another one.
4. Peace of mind - if he has someone to play with, he'll leave us alone more. :) And I won't worry so much when I have to leave him home alone during the day.
5. We love dogs.

At first we thought we'd have to wait due to finances, but then we discovered the Italian Greyhound Club of America, which runs an extensive rescue program in pretty much every state. And all they really charge is about $250, to cover expenses while they were fostering the rescued dog! So not only would we be able to afford it, but we'd be giving a much-needed home to a grateful pup. So now we've gone through the application process with our local IGCA rep, and she came and inspected our place on Saturday, so we're now approved! Woo!

Now is the wait-and-see part, because they only have a few IGs right now in the area, and none of them are really what we're looking for. We could adopt from any of the other states, but we'd have to actually drive or fly out there to get him, because they won't ever ship a dog. One of the coolest parts is they'll post all their available IGs on Pet Finder (at least the ones that weren't immediately taken by a waiting approved family, like us), a website devoted to adoptions. That way you can see photos, and read all the details on how they came up for adoption, what their temperament is, how trained they are, etc.

At any rate, we're very excited, and can't wait to find just the right guy to be Jacopo's new brother!

March Photo Madness

Speaking of Jacopo, been taking more photos lately, all of which you can see on my Flickr here, but I wanted to share some highlights:
I just love the light on that last one - he usually doesn't curl up all by himself, but maybe he's finally getting more independent...ha!

Family Sunday

So we (and by "we" I mean my dad, my brothers, Roseann, Jacopo and I - in one car!) headed down to Karl and Donna's house in San Diego on Sunday to hang out with the family, especially because my auntie Elissa was in town for the "Women in Aviation" conference. (Chris stayed at home with Fred.) We had a great time! My cousin Sarah and her boyfriend Jim came over, Donna's mom, brother and sister-in-law came over too, the weather was gorgeous (if a bit cold for our part of the world) and the dogs got to play together. Plus we got BBQ...yum! Here's some highlights from the day:

The gorgeous weather
Roseann and Sarah cracking each other up
Sarah and Jacopo having a moment
And this photo reminds me of the funny of the day that day - Elissa was like "Take my picture kissing the camera, like you did!" And I said "I did that in the mirror!" And she got this surprised look on her face and said "Really?" And mom and I just craaaacked up. Definitely indicative of the pre-Myspace generational divide - the self-portrait-in-mirror has become a mainstay for my generation. ;)Mom and Jacopo cuddling (jeez, who doesn't he cuddle with??) - the wind got really cold! Like below 50! :)All in all a very nice day. :)

Materialism Alert

Just had to share some new things I've added to my hoard lately (have I mentioned I love to shop? Maybe once or twice?), to get in the mood for spring...or whatever excuse works for you.

First, I finally bought a new swimsuit. I don't go swimming that often, but I purposely ruined my old one last season in the mud baths at Glen Ivy because it was already three years old at that point. So with the weather warming up like it has been around here, I figured it was high time I finally got a new one. And being that I'm no longer 18 and would really prefer to cover my slowly-but-surely-expanding backside (no pun intended), I decided to go for a classic retro look. Thanks to Ms. Vintage herself, Katie, I was able to find this awesome one from Esther Williams Swimwear - yes, THE Esther Williams of Hollywood golden age fame. :)
But in red, of course. Super cute, huh? I might actually have to find an excuse to wear it somewhere besides a jacuzzi! :) It's not the cheapest suit out there, but it's also not nearly the most expensive - and it has a tummy shaper built in!

Another product I'm now in love with is Smashbox's O-Glow. It's a new cheek color that comes out clear, but starts adjusting to your skin tone once you put it on, to give you a really natural blush color. I had read about this stuff in In Style and thought it was a load of you-know-what. But then I got a free sample at Sephora last week, and I have to report that it really does what it says! I loved it so much I also got their lip gloss that does the same thing.

Also have to give special mention to Bumble & Bumble's "dry shampoo". Another product out there that's making women's (and men's) lives easier. It's like a hairspray that sprays powder to absorb that day-after excess oil at your roots. Awesomeness - 'nuff said.

We'll, I'm spent. Hope you guys are all doing well!

~T
Quote of the moment: "A picture is the expression of an impression." ~Ernst Haas

Been "catching up" on scrapping lately, so to speak. More like making sure I properly promote my two designers that I CT for and take advantage of the creative urge I've had! ;)

First up is this one with a super cute photo mom sent me - apparently she's started taking Ted E. in her basket when she rides her bike (since he couldn't keep up if he tried!):
Sooo funny! Credits can be seen here.

Next up is "Crazy Boy". Of course I couldn't resist using this awesome photo of Chris!
I just loved using the new kit Penny released last weekend, which you can find here, in combination with a gorgeous set of templates by Bree, available here! Credits are here.

I was also inspired by the "Cookie Decorating 101" challenge over at the Sweet Shoppe to create this one:
Been meaning to work with that photo since I took it! ;) The journaling and credits can be seen here.

Last but not least is Cherish, which I had to do after playing around with these awesome Lightroom presets by Nick Tsakiris, which I got through the Lightroom Killer Tips blog.
Came out nicely, I thought! Credits are here.

In Other News...

We had Chris' birthday/housewarming party last Friday, and can you believe it? I didn't take ONE photo - not one. Guess I was so relieved to finally have everything in place and the apartment all cleaned that I just relaxed! Plus I kept going around to everybody chatting and catching up, so hardly had a chance. But I think everyone had a great time, and it was definitely our best party yet! So cool to finally get different groups of friends in the same place together, I knew they'd all hit it off. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing my Auntie Elissa this weekend; she's coming into town (well, San Diego to my uncle's house, which is close enough around here) this weekend for a conference! So we're all going to hang out down there on Sunday - should be a good time! I'll definitely have my camera then.

Our Guest for the Weekend

Meet Fred.
He belongs to our friend Chris and his girlfriend Brittney (well, mostly Brittney), and we'll be puppy-sitting him for the weekend while they go up to San Francisco. We already know he's in love with Jacopo (they chased each other around for hours at Christmas), so should be fun. :)

Hope all is well with everyone!

~Trude

Funny of the Week

Happy birthday to my main man! He's finally caught up with me at the big 2-4. Can't wait to share what I got him, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. :)

So to celebrate, the funny of the week comes straight from his mouth:

"I'm not turning 42, honey."
-Said when he noticed the "2" and "4" birthday candles I got for his cake sitting on the kitchen counter.

Hardy har har, baby. Hardy har har.

Photos, Parks and Surveys

So been taking more photos lately, now that things have calmed down a bit at home...

Love how this one turned out of Jacopo sleeping (thanks to my nifty-fifty lens); he never sleeps sitting up! He was just really tired that day and passed out next to Chris. :)
And this one of Puss (my parent's adopted kitten). I was trying to give a sense of scale as to just how huge he really is - that's a normal cable TV remote! And he's not quite a year old yet! But I think I'm just going to have to get a shot of me holding him or something, because it continually baffles me as to how huge he's become, especially when I think back on how small he used to be.
Then Saturday after taking Jacopo for a shot, we took him down to Irvine Park, which was gorgeous and sunny until the clouds started rolling in around 1ish. But we were totally lucky to go there in between rainstorms!
Gasp! A survey!

Because I was tagged by the talented Ms. BritGirl (well, sort of, because I secretly stalk her blog for digiscrap inspiration!). :)

You have to use 3 words to answer each question. No more, no less. It’s harder than you think.

1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse

2. Your girlfriend/boyfriend/hubby? Is at work

3. Your hair? In a pony.

4. Where is your father? At work too.

6. Your favorite thing to do? Too many now

7. Your dream last night? Back in school

8. Your favorite drink? 7up & vodka (ha)

9. Your dream car? Lexus RX hybrid

10. The room you’re in? Lots of light

12. Your fears? Not fulfilling dreams

14. Who did you hang out with last night? Pup, BF, me

15. What aren’t you good at? Math, science, patience

16. Muffins? Make me hungry

17. One of your wish list items? Calvin Klein purse

19. The last thing you did? Use the copier

20. What are you wearing? Cute work clothes

22. Your pet? My curly-tailed shadow

23. Your computer? Mac needing upgrade

24. Your life? Always getting better

25. Your mood? Up on coffeeeeee

26. Missing? Being at home

27. What are you thinking about right now? Eating Honda Ya

28. Your car? Needs a wash

29. Your work? Um...ah...uh...

30. Your summer? Is coming soon!

31. Your relationship status? Almost three years

32. Your favorite color(s)? Black, green, red

33. When is the last time you laughed? Few minutes ago

34. Last time you cried? Last weekend, man

35. School? Going back soon!

This weekend should be nice and quiet, and I can't wait to see some of you next weekend at our house warming/Chris' birthday party! :)

~T

Happiness Bearers

Lots of things making me happy right now, so it's time for another round!

1. Our new place. Seriously, its just a gazillion times better. Not perfect, but much better. And I'm of the opinion that for the location, area and quality, you couldn't find a better place to rent (damn, that's my old real estate advertising job kicking in). And one of the biggest differences? The pup is most definitely happier - eating more, jumping over the back of the futon sofa with ears flapping (which he wasn't able to do the way we had it before), hanging out in the sun on the patio (when we're home during the day we just leave the sliding door open so he can go in and out to potty, and now I catch him just sunning himself. Will have to invest in a doggie door) and, as of last night, FINALLY sleeping in his crate...just because. I think going to puppy day care at Petsmart all day had something to do with it, though. And this photo is also good proof of the better lighting we have! :)
2. I love lamp. I apologize for the murky photo, it's straight-out-of-the-camera. And it's solid red, but because of the reflection looks like it has white on it. Anyways...I got it at Pier 1. Mostly because we clearly needed something to fill the space between bookshelves, and I'm totally in love with it! Also got these awesome storage bins to go in the third bookshelf (not pictured) that are made out of recycled magazines. How cool is that? I would link you to them but Pier 1's website kinda sucks and clearly doesn't have all of their merchandise.
3. Geeking out because Cathy Zielske mentioned yours truly on her blog! Just go check it out while I try and hold off a panic attack. I love her approach and books so much, I'm thrilled she even responded to my question.
   
4. iLife '08. It's about time we upgraded! For those of you I share my photos with, the cool part about this upgrade is I can publish my photos to a web gallery that lets you download them at full resolution. Way easier than clogging up email accounts!
5. Seeing comedians live. Just went and saw John Pinette, an old favorite, again Sunday night at the Brea Improv along with the entire Glowin gang. So much fun! His opener was really good too, so it was a solid 2 hours of laughing. Our cheeks hurt afterwards. Hurt so good. And I'm also planning on seeing Wanda Sykes when she's there the weekend after next with the family. Woo!
   
6. Petsmart's Doggie Day Camp. They make it oh-so-easy! Jacopo was there yesterday and today since Chris is down in San Diego (not on my list of happiness-bearers) most of the week and I'm at work all day. We figure it's only fair that he get to go and play instead of get locked up for 8 hours for at least part of the week (never fear, SPCA, I do go home on my lunch hour to let him run around and eat lunch). Plus today while he was there he got a bath and nail trimming. Oh, the luxury. :) But after our experiences last summer, now any time Chris is away during the week he makes sure the gig pays enough that we can afford to do day camp at least a couple days.
7. Cool siblings. Five years ago I probably wouldn't have believed it, but my brother (the one that is only two years younger) and I can now say we hang out regularly - as friends. Crazy, I know! Admittedly it has a lot to do with the fact that his awesome girlfriend Roseann and I are total buds now, but they're just fun to hang out with! Last night they came over to just chill with me while Chris out of town, and the good company was mucho apreciado.

What's floating your boat right now? I'd love to hear!

~Trude